Cigar-vending machine.



H. J. DAVIDSON. CIGAR VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21. 1909.

I 963,999. 9 Patented July 12,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

WITNESSES luvnn'fun HARRY J.DAv1nSuN H. J. DAVIDSON.

CIGAR VENDIljG MACHINE. {KPPLIOATION IILBI) JAN. 21, 1909.

Patented July12, 1910.

-2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTEIR HARRY LT- DAVIDSD HARRY J. DAVIDSON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

I CIGAR-VENDING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 21, 1909.

Patented July 12, 1910. Serial No. 473,569.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, I'IARRY J. DAVIDSON, of the city of Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cigar-Vending Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to cigar vending machines and is designed as an improvement on U. S. Patent #874,170, dated December 17 th, 1907, granted to me for cigar vending machines.

The objects of this invention are; first, to provide a simple means for delivering the cigars singly to the discharge mechanism, which means will not become clogged and will not injure the cigars; second, to provide means for positively limiting the movement the usual manner.

of the discharge mechanism; and third, to provide means whereby a single machine may be quickly and readily adjusted for coins of various sizes. To accomplish these objects, I provide a reciprocating carrier operating in conjunction with the discharge mechanism, said carrier being adapted to cut off the supply of cigars to the discharge mechanism when the same is in motion. Operating simultaneously with the carrier, is an oscillating table, visible from the exterior of the machine, which closes the bottom of the coin tube and dumps the last coin preparatory to receiving a fresh one. I further provide a gravity actuated means for locking the discharge mechanism against motion in a reverse direction, and an adjusting screw in the throat of the coin tube.

In the drawings which illustrate my in vention :Figure 1 is an end elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a partial rear view of same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the carrier. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the carrier on the line 67 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the cylinder stop.

In the above defined figures, 8 designates a casing having a transparent front and top, 9 and 10 respectively. A receiving trough 11 is formed in the front of the machine at the bottom to catch the delivered cigars in A cylinder 12 is provided within the casing having a plurality of longitudinal channels 13 for the reception of the cigars. The cylinder is mounted on posts 14 and 14 and operated by a rack 15 and loose pinion 16, the pinion being connected to the cylinder by a spring pressed pawl 17 engaging a ratchet 18. A counter ratchet 19 is provided, engaged by a coin operated locking pawl 20 projecting into the throat 21 of the coin tube 22. The rack is reciprocated by a manually operable plunger 23 having a post 24 projecting through a slot 25 in the throat of the coin tube andadapted to force the coin through the throat of the tube and release the pawl 20 prior to the rotation of the cylinder, the movement of the plunger during this operation not being transmitted to the cylinder by reason of lost motion between the pawl 17 and ratchet 18. The parts heretofore mentioned are substantially as shown and described in my former patent, and I will now proceed to describe the parts in which my improvements reside.

A cross-bar 26 is fixed to the casing to the rear of the cylinder and approximately on a level with the top thereof. An inclined guide plate 27 is fixed to the cross-bar and projects over the cylinder. This plate is pro vided with a fixed vertical side plate 28 adjacent one end of the cylinder, and an adjustable vertical side plate 29 adjacent the opposite end of the cylinder, the lower edges of said side plates extending downwardly so as to close the ends of the uppermost channel of the cylinder. The adjustment of the side plate 29 is effected by means of a screw 30 operating through a slot 31 in the base 32 of the plate and clamping the same to the plate 27 at any desired point. An inclined carrier plate 33 is supported at its front end on the guide plate 27, and at its rear end on a roller 34 mounted on a cross-shaft 35 fixed to the casing. The carrier plate is provided with a fixed side plate 36 lying outside the fixed side plate 28 and in sliding contact therewith. The carrier plate is also provided with an adjustable side plate 37, lying inside the adjustable side late 29. The adjustment of the side plate 3 is similar to that of the plate 29, comprising a screw 38 operating in a slot 39 in the base 40 of the plate 37 and clamping the same to the carrier plate. The carrier plate 33 and side plates 36 and 37 are offset at 41 to provide an abutment equal in width to the thickness of the material forming the cigar box 42. An adjusting screw 43 operates through the rear end of the carrier plate to regulate the inclination of the cigar box, as seen in Fig. 1. A vertical stop plate 44is provided extending between the front edges of the side plates 28 and 29 and located approximately above the front edge of the uppermost channel 13 of the cylinder. This stop plate 44 is vertically adjustable on an L-shaped bar 45, by means of a screw 46, the bar 45 being adjustable forward or backward on a rib 47 of the casing,- by means of a screw 48, in order that the stop plate 44 may be adjusted forward or backward as well as vertically, to accommodate various diameters of cigars. A check plate 49 is fixed to the side plate 9.8 so as to leave a space 50 thereunder through which the cigars pass from the box downwardly over the carrier plate. An arm 51 projects rearwardly from the plunger and is connected by a link 52 to a crank 53 on one end of a shaft 54 journaled in a bracket 55 fixed to the under side of, the cross-bar 26. On the opposite end of the shaft 54, a second crank 56 is fixed and is connected by a link 57 to a block 58 fixed to the under side of the carrier plate 33.

The coin detector comprises an open topped box 59, fixed to the base of the machine immediately under an aperture in the casing closed by a sheet of glass 60, or other transparent material. An oscillating table 61 is pivoted at its center near the top of the box, the pivot thereof extending through the rear of the box to form a crank 62. A small helical spring (33 extends between the extremity of this crank and the base to maintain the tube normally horizontal. A bell-crank lever 64 is pivoted to the plunger guide 65, one arm of said bell-crank lever engaging under the table crank 62, and the other arm thereof being curved and lying in the path of the plunger. A gate 66 is carried by the table 61 and is adapted,when the table tilts, to close the lower end of the coin tube 22 and prevent the coin therein from falling on the table when in its tilted position. I provide an adjusting screw 67 in the throat 21 or narrowest portion of the coin tube 22. This screw 67 may be adjust ed to vary the width of the throat to suit coins of various diameters. The end of the screw 67 forms the fulcrum point around which the plunger post 24 forces the coins in order that they may release the locking pawl 20 from the counter ratchet 19. It will be evident that if this fulcrum point is adjustable, coins of different diameters may be made to impart the same movement to the pawl 20. I also provide a stop pawl 68 pivoted to a bracket (39 extending from the post 14*. This pawl 68 is provided with a counter-balance 70, which operates by the force of gravity to maintain thepawl constantly in engagement with a ratchet wheel 71 fixed to the end of the cylinder. The pawl 68 engages the ratchet wheel 71 and locks the cylinder against movement in a reverse direction during the return of the plunger. The pawl 68 also cooperates with the locking pawl 20 to hold the cylinder rigidly and to aline the uppermost channel thereof in proper position to receive a cigar from the carrier 33.

The operation of my device is as follows :A coin is inserted in the tube and lodges in the throat thereof between the adjusting screw 67 and the locking pawl 20. The downward movement of the plunger forces the coin through the throat of the tube, releasing the locking pawl 20 from the counter ratchet 19 before the pinion brings the pawl 19 into engagement with the ratchet 18 to rotate the cylinder. The downward movement of the plunger operates the bell-crank lever (34 to tilt the table 61 of the coin detector and dump any coin already lying thereon. As the table tilts, the gate (36 carried thereby, passes in front of the lower end of the coin tube and prevents the escape of the coin therefrom until the return of the table to a horizontal position on the rise of the plunger. It will be readily understood from Fig. 1, that coincident with the operation of the coin detector and prior to the rotation of the cylinder, the carrier plate 33 will be drawn forwardly over the cylinder, into the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the motion being transmitted from the plunger arm 57 through the link 52, crank 53, shaft 54, crank 56, and link 57. The reciprocation of the carrier plate 33 forms an essential feature in the operation of this machine as .it isolates the cylinder from the supply of cigars during rotation and prevents the cigars jamming between the cylinder and the stop plate 44. This reciprocation also serves to break up any bridge or jam formed by the cigars and feed the same under the check plate 49. The carrier plate also insures the delivery of a cigar every time the machine is operated as it closes the top of the channel 13 and prevents the cigar escaping therefrom before it is delivered to the trough 11. The plate 33 in its forward movement picks up any cigars other than the one in the uppermost channel of the cylinder and lines them up against the stop plate 44 in order that on the retreat of the carrier plate after the cylinder comes to rest, a cigar will be in position to drop by gravity directly into the empty channel of the cylinder. Cotiperating with the carrier plate are the pawls 20 and 68 which aline and lock the cylinder in posit-ion to receive a fresh cigar. After the coin is forced through the throat of the tube, the locking pawl 20 returns into engagement with the counter ratchet 19 to arrest the rotation of the cylinder immediately the cigar is delivered therefrom and an empty channel brought under the carrier plate. At the same moment the locking pawl 20 arrests the rotation of the cylinder, the stop pawl 58 engages one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 71 to prevent the cylinder rotating in a reverse direction, either from recoil due to its sudden stop, or from being rotated by the pinion during the rise of the plunger.

The adjustable side plates 29 and 37, and

the adjustable stop plate 44: allow a single machine to be regulated to vend any length or diameter of cigar with equal certainty and without injuring the same in any way. The box adjusting screw 43 permits the inclination of the cigar box to be regulated in order that cigars which have become flattened will slide out readily. The coin detector, by leaving the last coin placed in the machine visible, will deter dishonestly inclined persons from'operating the machine with anything except legitimate coins. This device also shows the purchaser if he has by mistake placed a coin of higher denomination but of the same size as the required coin. Various other advantages will be apparent to those familiar with the construction and operation of this class of device.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a vending machine, the combination with a delivery mechanism and an operating plunger therefor, of a stationary guide, a fixed side plate and an adjustable side plate for said guide, a magazine cooperating with said guide, a fixed side plate and an adjustable side plate for said magazine, means operated by the plunger for reciprocating said magazine within the guide, a check plate fixed to the guide, and an adjustable plate in front of said guide.

2. In a cigar vending machine, the combination with a delivery mechanism and operating means therefor, of a reciprocatable magazine an adjustable plate for alining cigars in the magazine, and means connecting the operating mechanism and magazine for moving the latter forward over the delivery mechanism during delivery.

3. In a cigar vending machine, the combination with a delivery cylinder and operating means therefor, of a fixed guide plate, a magazine reciprocatable thereon, a check plate carried by the guide plate for regulating the escape of cigars from the magazine, an adjustable plate in front of said magazine for controlling the escape of cigars from the magazine, and means for moving the adjustable plate forwardly to close the aperture between itself and the adjustable plate during the operation of the delivery mechanism.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRY J. DAVIDSON.

Witnesses:

C. W. TAYLOR, STUART R. W. ALLEN. 

